Al-Qaeda leader killed in American air strike in Syria

Pentagon says Mohammad Habib Boussadoun al-Tunisi, an Al-Qaeda leader, was killed in an air strike near Idlib.

Ben Ariel, 20/01/17 04:06

Al-Qaeda flag

Reuters

An American air strike has killed an Al-Qaeda leader in northern Syria, the Pentagon said Thursday, according to the AFP news agency.

The terrorist, Mohammad Habib Boussadoun al-Tunisi, died in the January 17 strike near Idlib, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.

"He was involved in extremist facilitation and external operations and has been connected to terrorist plots to attack Western targets," Cook was quoted as having said.

He added that Boussadoun was an Al-Qaeda "external operations leader" who arrived in Syria in 2014 after spending several years in countries across Europe and the Middle East.

A U.S.-led coalition is striking Islamic State (ISIS) group targets in Syria, but has also hit leaders from other groups including the Al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which has renamed itself Fatah al-Sham after breaking away from Al-Qaeda.

In November, the international coalition killed Abu Afghan al-Masri, a senior Al-Qaeda leader in Syria who previously operated in Afghanistan.

In October, the Pentagon said an air strike near Idlib had targeted a Nusra senior leader, Ahmed Salama Mabrouk, an Egyptian also known by his nom de guerre Abu Faraj.

Also in October, a United States drone strike in Syria killed Al-Qaeda member Haydar Kirkan, who had ties to Al-Qaeda's senior leaders, including former leader Osama bin Laden.